The shovel strikes hard rocky dirt. Muscles bunch as another scoop is hoisted, and tossed aside. The earth doesn’t yield easy. I don’t yield easy. Sweat trickles; grime coats both skin and clothing. A breeze kicks up bringing the first drops of sweet cooling rain. Like a gentle washing straight from God.

My husband sits in the cramped space, controls under hand: scoop, carry, dump. Over and over. Tires both churn up and press down the earth. Again and again. I have felt both churned up and pressed down. Yet, God is in control always scooping me up, carrying me along, dumping the sin from my repentant heart. Over and over. Again and again. Grace and mercy from the Father.

Father teaches his son how to navigate a machine far bigger than his boyish frame. Patient instruction in safety and use. Back up, move forward, lift up, drop low, tilt down, level out. Then rest the scoop on the ground. Shut it down. A proud boy grasps his dad’s hand, and jumps from the machine. His dad nods approval.

I hear my Father’s voice through the loudness of the world. Daily teaching about faith, love, goodness. His patient instruction guides me step by step. My obedience receives His nod of approval. And like my son, my heart dances, and I smile big.

Peace settles across hard working shoulders. The silence broken only when rake finds rock. Work is hard, but good. The body tired marvels at the mind clear. With time’s passage, the landscape shifts smoother. Like clay in the Potter’s hand. Take me into your hands, Lord, and shape me into something beautiful.

♥ Thanks for sharing ♥

Our normal Fotographic Friday link up will return next Friday. This week, we have the progressive interview blog hop with several writers in its place.

I belong to an amazing group of writers, and this week one of them came up with the fun idea to do a progressive interview. Each writer posed a question, and the other writers answered it. Since today is Fotographic Friday, I asked them to share their favorite photography tip or resource. Here’s what they had to say:

Patty Sargent Wysong: My sister is a photographer and she’s always sharing tips with me. The one that has probably helped me the most over the years is to get as close as possible to what I’m shooting. Since I love the macro setting on my simple point-n-shoot camera the best, that advice has had me almost standing on my head at times. It’s keeping me limber, that’s for sure.

Donna Winters: Here’s a tip I learned from shooting antique cars at car shows for Old Cars Newspaper: get down to the level of the object or person you’re shooting. If you’re shooting a person who is seated, lower your position to be level with that person. It looks so much better than the angle from above. Works with dogs and cars and all else, too.

Diana Lesire Brandmeyer: Seriously? I own a point and shoot and most of the time I forget take it off the food setting. So I guess it would be check your settings!

Janet Sketchley: I’m trying to learn to use a camera way beyond my skill level. The tip I most need to learn is if you change the setting from automatic, remember to reset it before putting the camera away. Or you’ll lose the next photos you take. Practical tip: I use a high resolution for my pictures, and now I take distance shots as well as close-ups of a scene I want to photograph. A few shots I really wanted to use as blog headers were too close-up to crop for the long rectangle.

Sharon Clements Srock: OK, I’m not a photographer, but I do enjoy taking pictures. I got my first camera, a Polaroid swinger when I was 12, I’ve had the film type, regular and 35 mil, the one that used the disk films. I’m on my 3rd digital and nothing beats a good digital camera for ease and great pictures!

Yvonne Blake: I keep my camera with me. I never know when I’ll see something to put on my blog. Have a collection of your own photos will save the headache of avoiding copyright problems.

Sharon Hoover: Go low! I love taking pictures while sitting on the ground. Pictures of children, flowers, and animals have a whole new look when we record the world from a mere 24″ off the ground!

Try to frame your shot between two interesting points. For example, if I’m taking a landscape photo, I might frame the shot in-between two trees. It adds interest, and defines the space better.

Now it’s your turn: What is your favorite photography tip or resource? Please don’t feel like you have to know a lot about photography to answer.
After you leave your tip or resource, hop on over to the other progressive interview participants for more fun, and funny questions and answers.

♥ Thanks for sharing ♥

I had never heard the term iPhoneography before December. You mean people are taking amazing photographs with their iPhones, AND they have a name for that? Curious, I looked into this. Oh. My. There are some stunning photos out there.

I’ve always been an SLR purist. If I wanted to take good photos, I’d grab my Canon. I wanted as little post processing as possible. Raw captures.

This was taken with my Canon while driving down the road. My husband was driving, although, I have been known to take a photo while driving before. Ahem. No post processing on this one.

After seeing some really cool stuff being done with iPhones, I decided to take a 366 (leap year) Photo challenge using just my iPhone. I figured the best way to learn was to play. Daily. Mostly. Somehow it seemed okay to have fun with the photos, too. Enter post processing coolness.

Taken with Camera+ and processed within the app.

Now there is a TON of apps and gear out there. I do plan on learning more and growing as an iPhoneographer as well as a regular photographer, but for now, I’ve only used the Camera+ app which I highly recommend. I take my photo and process it all within this app. I haven’t even explored all the features yet.

These two photos were taken from the exact same spot. In the second shot, I zoomed in, and used a different filter altering the feel of the photo a little.

Unplanned shot of Amber – she styled her own hair.

The wonderful thing about iPhoneography is the convenience of having a camera that fits in your pocket, is almost always with you, and can result in gorgeous photos.

You can also take photos on the sly by learning how to shoot while appearing to be texting, or maybe even shooting from your hip – something I hope to try soon. Shooting on the sly helps you capture more natural photos. How many times do you go to take a picture of someone, and they suddenly become all shy or a cheesy grin pops out?

A sobering moment for the group of kids when they remembered not everyone has the basics: shelter, food, warm clothes…

Or maybe you want to capture some urban life shots. Learning to shoot in various ways (like from your hip), will allow you to capture real life moments from more interesting angles, or without seeming invasive.

Technology is always improving, and I imagine the phone cameras will only get better as we go. Grab an app, and play around. See what your phone can do.

There are also communities like Instagram where you can share photos with others who love this form of photography. It’s wonderful to get feedback, but also to be inspired by some talented photographers. Most of all, have fun, and capture life.

F(ph)otographic:
adj. Of, relating to, or consisting of photography or a photograph.

Photography – the thrill of capturing that perfect shot; the agony of missing it. Let’s share our photos, processed or not, along with informative or inspiring posts about photography, iPhoneography, photographers, post processing…anything related to capturing life through the lens.

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